6-PORT-BASED ACTIVE SOURCE-PULL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE

The proposed active source-pull measurement technique allows the creat ion of variable source impedances having true unitary complex reflecti on coefficients (total reflection at any desired phase). Based on the use of a reverse six-port reflectometer, frequency-independent source impedances can be synthesized and the power available from the source can also be calculated. The technique is found to be suitable for mult i-tone characterization of microwave devices, for use as mixers or bro adband power amplifiers. Experimental validations show that the linear measurement accuracy of the proposed technique is about +/-0.007 angl e +/- 0.5 degrees for the reflection coefficients measurements and +/- 0.15 dB for the transducer gain evaluation while the accuracy for the nonlinear measurements is +/-0.01 angle +/-1 degrees and +/-0.15 dB.